Prof Michael Jackson - The wherewithal of life

From Saturday Morning, 10:20 am on 27 May 2017

Professor Michael D Jackson is a New-Zealand-born anthropologist and creative writer. He has published 30 books of poetry, fiction, ethnography and memoir, and is internationally known for his vast body of work. Most notably, he has helped define the field of 'existential anthropology' - looking at how groups of humans make meaning of their lives in the face of adversity. In New Zealand, Jackson is best known for his poetry and creative non-fiction (Latitudes of Exile was awarded the Commonwealth Poetry Prize in 1976, and Wall won the New Zealand Book Award for Poetry in 1981). Since 1969 he has conducted extensive fieldwork among the Kuranko of Sierra Leone, the Warlpiri and Kuku-Yalanji of Australia, and African migrants in Europe. Jackson is currently Distinguished Professor of World Religions at Harvard Divinity School.